The Philippine Coast Guard released photos alleging that fishermen salvaged a 3-meter-long, 2-meter-wide, 100-kilogram rocket off the coast of Mindoro Island at the northern tip of the Sulu Sea.Photo: Photo taken from the official website of the Philippine Coast Guard
The Philippine Coast Guard released photos on the 2nd, alleging that fishermen salvaged a rocket that was 3 meters long, 2 meters wide and weighing 100 kilograms off the coast of Mindoro Island at the northern end of the Sulu Sea. wreckage. Judging from the appearance and text, it may be the “Long March 5-B” carrier rocket launched by China on July 24, which slapped the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s statement that “most of them were burnt and not dangerous.”
The rocket wreckage displayed by the Philippine Coast Guard clearly shows the Chinese five-star flag pattern; Philippine media reported that there are also Chinese characters for “support site”. The Philippine Space Agency told the media on the 1st of this month that the wreckage of a Chinese rocket fell into the waters off the western part of the Philippines. At the time, it also pointed out that there was no damage report. It’s just that such a large and heavy piece of wreckage did not cause casualties or damage, perhaps just luck.
After the Philippine Space Agency revealed that the wreckage had fallen into the sea, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian responded: The wreckage of the last stage of the launch vehicle re-enters the atmosphere, and most of it will be burnt up during the process, which will not cause any harm to aviation activities and the ground. According to the survey by Philippine aerospace professionals, the wreckage caught by the fishermen should be the protective cover of the rocket.
It is reported that the “Long March 5-B” carrier rocket launched on July 24 was carrying the “Wentian Experimental Module”, the second module of the Chinese space station “Tiangong”. The wreckage of the last stage re-entered the atmosphere on July 31. NASA slammed China for not sharing specific trajectory information, which is not a responsible approach, while China accused foreign public opinion of “unreasonably hyping the risk of wreckage.”